Lisa Lockhart's 1867 school house, studio sanctuary will be transported into the intimate PDX Comtemporary Art space, transforming it into a life size version of one of the artist’s boxed constructions.
PDX invites inspection of objects, paneling & banalities given personal attention and placement by the artist . The objects saved, articles clipped, & books preserved provide a special glimpse into Lisa's studio life. Warm months brought winter wandering to the scrap yards of east central Illinois & now bits and pieces of other people personal effects will cover the walls of PDX Contemporary Art.
In the vein of Marcel Duchamp and Robert Rauschenberg, Lisa Lockhart’s sculptures, composites of found objects and materials, are surreal, delicate compositions of recognizable forms and items of seeming utility. Most articles that she uses are of an age gone by; antiques from the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. The base structures can be anything from a proper necklace box to debris. She then adds elements that invite inquiry and even narrative. To illustrate, “Bristle Bottle Stop.” This piece is made up of a small glass jar (from a jeweler) with an inserted paint brush plus a rubber stopper and the two objects are presented in a velvet watch case.
In her piece “Chamois,” 2004 Ms. Lockhart mixes distinct textures in her sculpture. She created a flower-bunch of suede that sits atop a round metal platform that has a rusted metal stem and is grounded by a brick. Her compositions incite wonder.
Lisa Lockhart studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and received her Master’s of Fine Arts from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1983. She is included in the Hallie Ford Museum collection and her work is exhibited nationally.